A colorful cloud may hover over mid-Atlantic states tonight

A
barium-strontium cloud creates a purple-blue blob in the upper
left hand corner of this photo.NASA

East coasters take note: A blue, green, and red cloud will likely
float through the sky at some point between 7 and 9 pm Eastern
tonight. And it's probably going to be so beautiful that you
won't want to miss it.

This multi-colored cloud won't be due to some strange physical
phenomenon. NASA
will be testing a suite of new space vehicle technologies on
its suborbital Black Brant IX rocket, and one of those tests
involves a burst of colorful vapor tracers into the atmosphere
which will create a big, vibrant cloud.

That is, if the launch goes according to plan — it's already been
postponed once and NASA has until October 12 to do it.

Once cleared, the rocket will launch from NASA's Wallops Flight
Facility in Chincoteague, Virginia. The colored clouds should be
visible to residents who live between Long Island, New York and
Morehead City, North Carolina. Here's where you'll be able to see
the launch (and the colored clouds):

NASA

You can monitor the launch — and know when to look out for the
cloud — by checking out the NASA TV stream below.

Vapor tracers have helped scientists better understand Earth's
near-space environment by visualizing how particles move around
in the upper atmosphere
since the 1950s. The tiny amount of emitted gas can be
observed from the ground.

About six minutes after the Black Brant rocket launches Wednesday
night, it will release four bursts of sub-orbital payloads
containing mixtures of the chemical elements barium and
strontium. These are actually the same chemicals
commonly used to produce brilliant reds and greens in
fireworks displays.

And don't worry, these clouds aren't dangerous. The amount of
barium and strontium they'll inject into the atmosphere will be
much less than that used in a typical Fourth of July fireworks
display.

Are you taking photos of the vapor cloud? We'd love to share
them! Please email your favorite highest-resolution images to
ti-science@techinsider.io with a full credit, a link to your site
or profile (if you'd like), and explicit permission for us to use
your work.